A federal judge rejects the trans athlete’s bid to have the Supreme Court case dismissed

First on Fox: The legal defense to “save women’s sports” won a major victory in its Supreme Court battle over transgender athletes this week.

After an Idaho trans athlete tried to have a potentially historic SCOTUS case dismissed, a federal judge shot down the attempt to dismiss it and ruled the case must proceed.

U.S. District Judge David Nye, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, denied former Boise State athlete Lindsay Hickox’s request to dismiss the case. The trans athlete began the legal battle in 2020, but tried to have it dismissed in September after the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case.

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Now Nye rejected Hickox’s request.

Nye asserted that after years of litigation, “[Idaho] She has a just right to have her arguments heard and decided once and for all.”[T]The Court feels that {Hecox}’s lack of clarity argument is, as noted above, somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review and should not be upheld.

Little v. Hecox was initially initiated by Hecox in 2020, when the trans athlete wanted to join the women’s cross country team at Boise State, and a state law preventing trans athletes from competing in women’s sports was blocked.

Hickox was joined by an unidentified biology student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the possibility of being subjected to a sexual conflict check. The challenge was successful, with a federal judge blocking the Idaho law.

A U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld an injunction blocking the state law in 2023, before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in July. Hickox then asked SCOTUS last month to drop the challenge, claiming the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently withdraw and refrain from playing any women’s sports at BSU or at Idaho.”

The defense team, led by Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Christine Wagner, countered Hickox’s attempt to end the fight before it reaches the Supreme Court, arguing that the dismissal violates the agreed-upon stay.

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“From day one in office, defending this law has been a top priority because Idaho’s girls deserve fair competition based on biological reality. The district court has ruled that after years of litigation, Idaho has earned the right to take our case to the highest court in the land. This decision keeps our case alive, and I will not stop until women and girls are safe to compete, participate and excel in competitive sports,” Labrador told the network. Fox News Digital on Nye’s decision.

Hecox’s efforts to have the case dismissed are not completely over, as SCOTUS has yet to rule on whether the case is moot. But Labrador and his team believe Nye’s ruling is a “good sign” for their team.

Ultimately, the defense in this case is looking for a bigger picture outcome than just whether Hickox can play women’s sports. Labrador told Fox News Digital that he is calling on the court to protect states’ rights to protect women’s sports.

Labrador previously said he hopes the Supreme Court issues a decision that has broader impact than just allowing one state to enforce its specific law on the issue. He wants a new national precedent. “I think that’s what they’re going to do,” Labrador said in a previous interview with Fox News Digital.

“I think they will have a lot of say in whether men can participate in women’s sports and, more importantly, how to determine whether transgender individuals are protected under the federal Constitution and state and federal laws.”

Prosecutors from 27 states and the US territory of Guam have signed amicus briefs in support of the defense in the upcoming SCOTUS case.

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The Labrador case is just one of two cases focusing on the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports that the Supreme Court will consider.

West Virginia, which enacted the Save Women’s Sports Act in 2021, is appealing a lower court ruling that allowed transgender athlete Becky Pepper Jackson to compete on the school’s cross country and track teams. Last year, Pepper Jackson qualified for the West Virginia High School Girls State Meet, where she placed third in the discus and eighth in the shot put at Class AAA.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Pepper Jackson, who was taking puberty-blocking medications, in an April 2024 ruling based on the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

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